


(not so fast) queens take time

by youngerdrgrey



Category: Queen Sugar (TV)
Genre: F/M, Season/Series 02, prompted
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-20
Updated: 2017-11-12
Packaged: 2019-01-20 10:22:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12430794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youngerdrgrey/pseuds/youngerdrgrey
Summary: about...Charley might be singing her praises, but that doesn’t mean Keke’s comfortable with all of the attention.// Anon wanted Charley and Keke to bond, but Keke needed coaxing to even get to Charley. I’ll write you another thing.SPOILERS through to 2x11, "Fruit of the Flower"





	1. Chapter 1

.

.

.

After the last time they were alone at his dad’s place, Keke tries to make sure they hang out in public a little more. Not that she doesn’t think they can control themselves, more that everyone else thinks they can’t. They can’t so much as share a slice of pie anymore without the old ladies hooking up their noses.

Even at the High Yellow, where everybody knows them, if Keke would take a bite off Micah’s fork, everybody would look at her like she’s doing something wrong. Then she’d flush, or she’d stop talking, so now it’s two slices at the diner, in public, and they sit on opposite sides of the booth when they study.

Well, she studies. 

Micah only pretends to. He does maybe ten problems, max, before he starts watching her instead of his textbook. Then his eyes get all hooded. His shoulders cave in so he’s closer to her. Micah’s lucky he’s cute too, or else Keke would’ve put an end to their study dates a long time ago.

He drums his pen against the edge of his textbook. “You done yet?” He uses pen because he doesn’t like the way pencils squeak against the page. Talk about over-confident. His page always gets filled with scribbles when they do the harder parts of the workbook though.

She’s still got a few problems left, but she could probably do those on the bus on the way to school. 

“Yeah, I’m done.”

His face lights up. “Cool.” For real, fireworks could explode right here, and that’s still the only thing he’d say.

“Cool.” She flips her notebook closed and sticks her pencil into her book to mark her place. “So, where to next?” 

The park for the Brown Sugar Festival has this really nice bench where she goes and sits sometimes. She closes her eyes, listens to the wind in the trees, and pictures what it would be like if she actually got crowned in the festival.

“I was thinking my mom’s.” He slips his plate of crumbs under hers, so he misses the way Keke’s shoulders tense up. “She’s been dropping hints that she wants me at her place more this week.”

“Oh.” Keke closes her textbook. “Your mom’s. That’s cool.” Back in private, and it won’t be like at Mr. West’ place. Miss Charley would probably want to be around, if Keke was there, and Miss Charley, well, she’s a lot.

Micah’s brow furrows. “What’s wrong?” He smiles when he says it though. “I thought you loved my mom.”

“I do,” but they both hear the breath that leads into the rest of the sentence. Keke loves Miss Charley, but his mom’s kind of intimidating. She single-handedly brought back the Brown Sugar Festival because she saw a need in the community, all while starting her own mill, finalizing her divorce, and raising Micah at the same time. Miss Charley is a flat out boss.

Micah likes to pretend he doesn’t care that much, but his voice gets all low and protective over her. “Then why’d you say it like that?”

Keke shrugs. “I don’t know. I’m just more used to us going to your dad’s is all.” It’s a solid excuse, but his jaw tightens once she says it. He gets all defensive about the whole two houses thing. She totally should’ve put it differently.

“I mean,” he practically throws their forks onto the plates, “it’s not some swanky loft in the city, but it’s closer to where you live than his place.”

“I know, Micah. It’s not that.”

“Then what is it then?”

“It’s your mom! She — not in a bad way, I just….” She can feel the blood rushing to her face. Her cheeks get red underneath, and she has to deal with how dry her mouth is when she tries to talk. “I don’t want her to think anything bad about me.” Everybody else thinks she’s fast for being with him, and she doesn’t want that to keep going.

He seems hurt though. “My mom wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t judge you. I told her that we’re taking things slow.”

He did? He really talks about her with his mom?

She keeps going. “And I don’t want to intrude on her space either. I don’t want her to feel like she has to be nice to me, or choose me for her festival just because I’m dating you.”

Micah shakes his head. “My mom doesn’t make choices like that. Believe me.” He motions to the booth. “Can I come over to your side, or are you gonna be weird?”

He waits until she nods to slide out of his side and head over to hers. She tries not to look around at the three waitresses on the floor. Roberta sometimes gives her this eye like they’re connecting or something, and Keke doesn’t want that.

But then Micah’s next to her again. He smells like his shea butter conditioner and the dragonfruit detergent from his mom’s place.

She tells him, “I’m not being weird. You don’t get the looks I do all the time. My girls only want to talk about you. Boogie’s being weird. It’s like everybody expects this to be a lot more than it is.”

He gulps into his next words, and his hands find hers on the seat. “What is it then?”

“I don’t know. It’s nice, but we’re still new. We’re still figuring stuff out, and I don’t want to give anybody the wrong idea. Least of all your mom.”

He turns even more in the booth, so the table’s gotta dig into his side.

“Keke, you gave my mom the idea for this festival. She basically made it to crown you queen, so you coming to our house won’t change anything.”

A whole festival, just for her? “You sure?”

“I am.” He smiles at her, and her flush spreads to the rest of her body. She’s a little light headed. She’s applied to be a queen in the parade since she was old enough to do the application herself.

“Your mom really wants to choose me?”

His grin takes up the rest of his face. She laughs, and he ducks his head into his shoulder the way he always does when he’s playing bashful. “I’m not supposed to say anything.”

She slides up to him, lifts her arms to come around his neck, which is quickly becoming her favorite way to be. He gets this stupid grin on his face when she does it too. Like he’s full of himself, but like he’s proud of her at the same time.

His lips are barely a breath away from hers when he answers her question, by the way. “But yeah, she wants to choose you.”

He kisses her, and it’s like that moment at the end of  _Princess and the Frog_ , like _you just kissed yourself a princess_ , only Keke’s a queen in this one. The future Brown Sugar Queen.

.

.

.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, Miss Charley smiles with tears in her eyes. Keke’s probably not supposed to notice, but she does

 

.

.

Keke digs in her pants pocket for a few seconds. Checks each side before darting her eyes up to Micah. "I think I dropped my chapstick in your car. It must've fell out of my pocket."

He shrugs with a little lean back into his chair. "You can just --" use mine, he starts to say, but then he remembers his mom on the other side of the kitchen table and thinks better of it. He stands up with a knock to the table. "I'll go look for it. Be right back."

He heads off, and Keke waits until the door clicks shut to wipe the anxiety off her face. Miss Charley sees it, but she laughs at the rouse.

"You have something to say?" Charley asks.

Keke nods. She scoops up her plate and Micah's too. "If it's alright."

Charley grabs her own plate and leads the way over to the sink. The barracks are the most instagram worthy loft that Keke's ever been in. Like something out of a movie set, and Miss Charley designed the whole thing herself. She chose the finishing and the bricks and the colors. She did all of that while starting up the mill, and raising Micah, and getting divorced. Miss Charley seems okay, but sometimes, her eyes go far away when she looks at Micah. She has to blink a few too many times when he pulls her into a conversation.

Keke puts the plates on the counter beside the sink. "Miss Charley, can I ask you something?"

"Of course, Keke." Charley turns on the water to spray down the plates. Micah's still has little bits of ground beef on it, but Keke knows how to clean a plate. Charley too.

"I wanted to know, are you doing okay?" Keke holds her hands to her side as neutrally as possible. "You do a lot, and I know that sometimes people can forget to check in on the strong women in their lives. So, are you doing okay?"

Charley’s eyes get all misty again, for one. She drops them down to the plates and breathes in deep. She even opens her mouth, but no words come out at first.

"Thank you, for asking." She stops the water. She turns so her hip rests against the sink and she can fully face Keke. "I am taking on a lot, and it weighs on me. But I'm fine."

"No offense, but fine normally comes out a little faster."

Charley's eyebrows jump up. "It's a work in progress, how about that?” That comes out clipped, but she keeps talking at least. “This whole harvest season is new to me. So many people -- good, capable people -- are depending on me to bring in their entire livelihoods. Not to mention the fact that the tiniest things keep… happening." She sinks her hip deeper into the counter. "I don't have to tell you how quickly we can be written off sometimes."

Keke has more volunteer hours than anyone else she knows. She applies every year for a parade that never even considers her. Now, she's a forerunner solely because somebody like Charley wants to honor her.

"It never gets easier, does it?"

Charley sighs like the words start coming out but catch in her chest instead. "Wading through it gets easier, but… some days, you'll still it feel it more than others. You will be glaringly aware of how much harder you have to work. Or you'll be right there, seated at the table, unable to speak, unsure if it even matters if you do." Her words hang in the quiet kitchen. Then she seems to remember where she is and who she's talking to. She pulls on a little smile. "But it does matter. Helping the community, putting your voice and your needs out there will always be necessary. Not everyone gets the opportunity to be heard."

Micah has an opportunity, not that he ever talks about it. Now, Keke has one too. Or, will, if she wins.

What would she even say to people? Keep trying and doing your best and let the Lord work how only He can? Trust in Him and somebody will come through? Work twice as hard and maybe you'll still end up pushing against the same doors you've been pushing your whole life?

Micah opens the door before Keke has to find any more words. Keke jumps a little, and Charley turns back to the dishes in the sink.

He apologizes, "I couldn't find it. You sure it's not in your bag?"

Keke pulls on a grin. She shakes her head. "I'll go check. Thanks." She takes a step towards the table, then pauses. She might not know what to say to everybody else, but she can think of what to say to Miss Charley. "And thank you, for giving us that opportunity."

Charley smiles at her. "Of course."

.

.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **a/n:** life’s tiring, and it’s hard sometimes to balance hopes for the future with the reality of the world. so, I’m thankful for characters and stories like these. idk, they help make sense of stuff + they have a lot to say when you let them.
> 
> anyways, remember to check in with the people in your life. and yourself too.

**Author's Note:**

> Talk to me about these kids, or something else y'all would like to see.


End file.
